
To help with better understanding and navigation, this content is structured around answering the following key questions.
1. What is SDT for S/4 HANA conversion( Selective Data Transition) ?
2. What are the types of SDT ?
3. What is SAP BTC ( Business Transformation Center) in SDT? Does it involve additional cost for usage ?
4. What is the role of SAP BTC in Selective Data conversion to S/4 HANA from ECC?
5. What are the restrictions in using BTC for SDT?
6. How to gain access to SAP Cloud ALM and SAP BTC ?
7. How to use BTC starting from scoping until target data migration?
8. How to create a SHELL copy of source ERP?
9. What are the overall steps involved in an SDT ECC to S/4 HANA conversion project and how SAP BTC gets placed?
10. How to reach the SAP BTC team incase of issues?
11. How to connect source ECC system and target S/4 HANA converted empty shell to BTC?
1. What is SDT ( Selective Data Transition)?
Customer's transformation journey from ECC to S/4 HANA can happen either through a Green field implementation or through a System Conversion (brownfield conversion) or through a Selective data transition(Bluefield conversion) .
Below table from SAP help portal, acts as a starting point to guide a customer's S/4 HANA transformation journey.
2. What are the types of SDT ?
Methods to execute SDT can be broadly classified into two as depicted below.
SDT TYPES
In a shell conversion scenario, all data from the source SAP ERP system is removed, leaving the system with the configuration and developments data only (Without master and transaction data). Thi empty shellsystm is then converted to SAP S/4HANA using SUM DMO. After the completion of the conversion, the selected master and transaction data is then migrated to the newly converted S/4HANA system.
In case of a Mix and Match scenario, it starts with a new implementation of S/4 HANA (Vanilla installation), which is then followed by a selective data transition, by selectively choosing the setting and data required to be transferred from the existing SAP ECC system to target S/4 HANA. This approach is used when a customer is looking to redesign most of their business processes but still wishes to retain some of their existing enhancements.
SAP BTC is a SaaS (software-as-a-service) product from SAP , embedded into SAP Cloud ALM . It is a one-stop shop for customers that who want to selectively transition from SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ERP) 6.08 to SAP S/4HANA 2023 or beyond using through SHELL CONVERSION method of SDT. Their target canbe either to S/4 HANA on-premise or SAP S/4 HANA private cloud edition under RISE. In general, It is available to all the customer with a valid SAP Service Cloud subscriptions and the SAP Enterprise Support agreement and does not involve any additional license cost for usage.
4. What is the role of SAP BTC in Selective Data conversion to S/4 HANA from ECC?
All Selective Data transition project in general involves below indicated key steps.
All these 6 critical steps are base for any selective data transition projects and is called the DATA RANBOW as depicted below.
DATA RAINBOW
SAP BTC acts as an one-stop solution performing all the above steps in sequence and well orchestrated manner guiding the customers with their transition to Intelligent Enterprise with a reduced timeline, effort and cost. It accelerates a project's data migration process with a guided , data-driven approach covering end-to-end starting from initial scope decision to the final production cut-over. The end product of SAP BTC is a new S/4 HANA system that is based on the customer's well established structures and processes with a data foot print reduced to actual and business relevant data.
5. What are the restrictions in using BTC for SDT?
Before getting deeper into SAP BTC, it is important to understand its restriction.
6. How to gain access to SAP Cloud ALM and SAP BTC ?
As specified earlier, SAP Business Transformation Center is included as a part of customer's SAP Cloud ALM subscription. Hence we need to subscribe to SAP Cloud ALM first. Access to cloud ALM can be attained by accessing the "System and Provisioning Dashboard" in "SAP for me URL" (with required authorization) and click on "Start Provisioning" and following the instructions . This process will send us an email with the link to enable the cloud ALM tenant.
For more information, please refer to links below:
https://me.sap.com/systemsprovisioning/provisioning
How_To_Get_Started_with_SAP_Cloud_ALM.pdf
Once we have access to Cloud ALM along with the required authorization, we can access SAP BTC as depicted below. A detailed 5-step procedure is described in SAP_BTC_Quickstart.pdf for the same.
7. How to use BTC starting from scoping until target data migration?
Attention: All the upcoming screenshots are either taken from the SAP BTC demo environment provided by SAP or from the demo video provided by SAP via the URL SAP BTC tool Demo . This is mainly because of technical challenges in running the tool end to end in demo tenant without a valid source and a target. The public demo tenant is available to all and can be accessed by following below steps.
1. Open the URL https://help.sap.com/docs/sap-business-transformation-center
2. Click on the "Try the Demo" button
3. Open the Cloud ALM public tenant using the button "SAP Cloud ALM Launchpad"
4. Use the credentials provided on the same URL under the section "Business Transformation Center"
As described before the selective data transition with SAP Business Transformation Center supports the transition of data that is initially analyzed and reduced to the amount that is relevant for continuing business in the new SAP S/4HANA instance. A detailed end-to-end steps for the same is as below.
STEP 1: Generating the analysis file from the source system
As an architect , in a SDT conversion project, a detailed understanding of the source system data including company code, transformation models , custom code and so on are critical to classify and select the data for target environment. This information must then be fed into the SAP BTC for further scoping.
For the same, SAP has enhanced the SAP S/4 HANA Readiness check report with additional Data profiling capability. For this, we must first implement two additional SAP notes to the SAP ERP source system before generating the readiness check export files. The SAP notes to be applied in the source are :
After these notes are implemented, we must execute the program RC_UDP_COLLECT_ANALYSIS_DATA via transaction SA38 in the productive client of the production system to start the analysis, to monitor its progress and to download the check results. Once the data collection job is completed, the required zip file can be downloaded by choosing Download Analysis Data option from within the program RC_UDP_COLLECT_ANALYSIS_DATA. For more information, please refer to SAP OSS note 3112362.
STEP 2: Uploading the source data zip file from STEP 1 to SAP BTC.
After logging into the SAP Cloud ALM , navigate to the tab "Transformation". Using the app "Manage Analysis File" as shown below, upload the previously downloaded zip file as shown below.
STEP 3: Creating a digital blueprint out of the uploaded file
Once the file has been uploaded, a Digital blueprint must be created for further scoping the relevant data as shown in the below screen shots.
A detailed graphical overview of the created digital blue print detailing the source customer data can be viewed choosing "Digital Blueprint overview" from the 'Related Apps' drop down.
STEP 4: Understanding the source system data through 'Select Company Code' App
With the Digital Blueprint created in STEP 3, we will now be able to get a deeper insight one the source system data starting from company codes, transformation objects, number of records associated with each company code or object, Last activity and so on. We will also be able to get a graphical details on the yearly distribution of data as shown in the next 2 screen shots.
STEP 5: Scoping company code and Transformation objects for selective data transitioning
For scoping the required company code that are valid for target migration, we must goto the 'Select Company Code' app and choose the company codes that are not valid for migration . Using the 'Mass Edit' button as shown below, mark the company codes that are out of migration scope as shown below. The company code that is to be excluded can either be based on the number of records or last activity or based on the customer requirement.
In the same manner, the transformation objects can also be scoped for target S/4 HANA conversion. This is done using the 'Select Transformation Object' app as shown below. Similar to company code, the transformation object that is to be excluded can either be based on the number of records or last activity or based on the customer requirement. All these scoping discussions must happen based on the input provided by the respective Functional expert and customer who understands the data.
STEP 6: Scoping custom Z-objects and data from bespoke application for migration
Until STEP 5, we have looked into scoping the SAP standard objects from the source system. Until now, no physical connections have been established with the actual source system. However, this does not include any custom code or table or data from bespoke applications from the source.
As a part of selective data transition, it is mandatory to scope these data as well. For the same, SAP BTC provides with an app called 'Manage System Scan' . This step also mandates for a direct connection from Cloud ALM to the source ECC system. More details on establishing the connection is covered as a part of question 'How to connect source ECC system and target S/4 HANA converted empty shell to BTC?'.
From the 'Manage System Scan' app, click on 'Create new Scan' as shown and select the source system from the list of connected system in cloud ALM and then trigger the Scan. Once the scan is finished, its status will be updated as depicted in the below screen shot.
After a successful system scan, this data must also be mapped into the previously created 'Digital Blue print'. This can be done by navigating to the 'Mange Digital Blueprint' app and then including the System Scan analysis in 'System Scan' button as shown below.
STEP 7: Scoping the scanned tables
Like we had scoped the company code and transformation object for SDT, we must also check the relevance of each of the Z object and scope it based on the customer requirement or based on its last Activity after discussing with the object owner. This scoping can be performed using 'Select Scanned Table' app as shown below. Please note that any Z table with record count zero is automatically marked as out of scope by SAP BTC.
Based on the customer requirement , the Z tables can be scoped by using the 'Mass Edit' function and the same gets reflected in the Digital blue print. Reason for exclusion can also be document as shown for audit purposes.
STEP 8: Confirming the Digital Blue Print
After proper scoping of Company code, transformation object and custom data and repository based on the inputs from the respective functional expert or developer or customer, now our digital blue print is ready for final confirmation, before it turns immutable.
An immutable digital blueprint for Selective Data Transition can be created by confirming and signing the digital blueprint as shown below. Post this, we will also be able to extract a PDF from of this data as shown for further reference.
STEP 9: Creating a Transformation model for project execution
After finalizing on the Digital blueprint, the next step involves implementing the scoping decisions into the migration tool for further processing. Translating of scope decision into ready-to-go implementation is also effectively handled by SAP BTC by creating a "Transformation Mode" as shown below. This model will have all the business data defined in the blueprint along with additional mandatory data for a proper and error free target data migration. That is, all the business data object from the database now also include a complete technical structure at a table level despite not being scoped specifically before. A detailed object relation along with its hierarchy is also available for our understanding .
To create a Transformation model, goto Digital BluePrint app and choose 'Create Transformation Model' as shown. Thus created model can be viewed using the app 'Transformation Model' .
Below is a sample screenshot depicting a detailed relational information for 'sales order' by using the filter functionality.
STEP 10: Creating an Empty ECC SHELL and converting it to S/4 HANA target system
Before proceeding further into the SAP BTC tool, we must prepare the target S/4 HANA SHELL system which will act as a target system for SAP BTC. For this, a shell copy of the source SAP ECC system is created and then converted into an SAP S/4HANA (on premise) or SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition system, using the SUM DMO.
A shell is a copy of the source system with a reduced amount of master and transactional data, or none at all. In general, a Shell system must include the following:
This shell can be created either using SAP standard tools-based or service-based as per the project requirement.
Thus converted S/4 HANA shell without master and transactional data must also be connected to the Cloud ALM and this acts as a target system for SAP BTC during the selective data transfer.
Below picture summarizes the process involved with creating and converting the target S/4 HANA empty shell before it is used as a target for data migration.
STEP 11: Feeding this information into the S/4 HANA converted SHELL system.
In general, SDT typically involves 2 repeated test cycle, one dress rehearsal where the entire migration is tested on the test system before cutting over to the production. For each of these cycle , we must create a Version of transformation model from SAP BTC and tag the source ECC and the target S/4 HANA Shell system for every test run or mock or production cut-over involved as shown below.
For this choose, 'Create version' button from Transformation Model app. Once created, choose the App 'Manage Cycle' as shown to map the test cycle, source system (ECC) and the target S/4 HANA Shell system.
STEP 12: Data migration to target S/4 HANA
Once we create a version of transformation model from the blueprint and connect it to the source ECC system and target S/4 HANA system, it triggers the application data migration from source to the target. It happens in 4 phases as shown below.
PHASE 1: CYCLE PREVALIDATION (UPTIME)
PHASE 2: CYCLE PREPARATION (UPTIME)
PHASE 3: RUN CYCLES (DOWNTIME)
PHASE 4: POSTPROCESS CYCLE (DOWNTIME)
All the above phases can be managed using the "Manage Cycle" app in SAP BTC.
In case of phase 'Cycle prevalidation' , various pre-requisites of the connected systems are checked . One of the critical task in this phase is to ensure that the target S/4 HANA shell system does not have any business data. Any issues identified gets logged into the cycle log as shown and can be repeatedly executed until this phase goes GREEN.
In case of the 'Cycle preparation' phase, the actual preparation and configuration of the underlying migration engine takes place. This phase runs as a part of uptime phase and runs before the cutover. This step along with initial step up, also covers transformation rule creation, sub-transformation object creation and validation followed by the postprocessing items creation. All these tasks gets executed automatically in source and target and the progress of the same gets monitored and logged as shown below.
The third phase "Run Cycles", involves the actual physical data migration to the target S/4 SHELL based on the defined and scoped items in the transformation model.
During the runtime, a dedicated monitoring is available to monitor the migration of each of the transformation model at data level as shown and also provides the required logging of tasks performed. The key aspect in this steps is the fact that this migration happens unattended.
In the final step of "Post-processing" , all the data that was transferred directly at database table level gets converted into SAP S/4 HANA model. Like all phases , logging is available which enables us to view the progress at a granular level.
Thus, all the 4 phases was guided and was available at a click of a button. It ran in an orchestrated manner and enabled us to monitor closely along with logging. Thus, SAP BTC has made the business transformation a non-event for our customer.
Below table provides a high level summary of all the tasks carried out by BTC.
8. How to create a SHELL copy of source ERP?
Please refer to 'STEP 10: Creating an Empty ECC SHELL and converting it to S/4 HANA target system' in the previous question 'How to use BTC starting from scoping until target data migration?'
9. What are the overall steps involved in an SDT ECC to S/4 HANA conversion project and how SAP BTC gets placed?
While most tasks of the SDT approach can be executed in SAP Business Transformation Center, there are additional steps to be executed outside of it to accomplish the full end-to-end process of moving selected data from the ECC 6.08 to the new S/4 HANA shell target environment.
Below are the main phases of migration.
PHASE 1: Preparing the source
# | Main task | Sub-task | Scope of SAP BTC |
1 | Data Volume Reduction and Data Quality | As a part of S/4 HANA transformation, it is important to clean up data in the source system which in turn optimizes the data volume and ensures a high-quality data available to be migrated to the target system. | Not part of BTC |
2 | SAP S/4HANA Simplification Analysis | Simplification items describe functionalities which are disruptive or incompatible in SAP S/4HANA when compared with SAP ECC. The simplification item check is typically performed using the Simplification Item Catalog provided by SAP. This check compares the existing source SAP ECC system with the Simplification Item Catalog to identify any potential conflicts or issues. It generates a report that highlights the specific simplification items that may impact the system. For more information, please refer Simplification Item Management for System Conversion. | Not part of BTC |
3 | Customer/Vendor Integration (CVI) for Business Partners | Before the selective data transition scenario can be executed with SAP Business Transformation Center, the customer/vendor integration has to be successfully completed in the source system. Besides steps to be carried out during the preparation phase, there may be further activities later in the process that are detailed in the below guide. For more information, please refer SAP S/4HANA Cookbook - Customer/Vendor Integration. | Not part of BTC |
4 | SAP Finance Consistency Checks | In an SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA transition scenario, SAP Finance consistency checks play a crucial role in ensuring the integrity and accuracy of financial data during the migration process. For key aspects of SAP Finance consistency checks in this transition scenario, please refer to SAP Finance in SAP S/4HANA - Conversion and SAP OSS note 2332030 | While pre-checks must be performed manually, the post processing task is part of SAP BTC post-processing cycle as described in the previous question in this bog (Post-processing cycle) |
5 | Scoping the Source System | With the help of SAP Readiness Check for Usage and Data Profiling as described earlier in this blog, we will be able to access and scope the source system data from SAP BTC. Details about the usage of the SAP Readiness Check for Usage and Data Profiling can be found in the following SAP Note 3275056 . | Part of SAP BTC |
PHASE 2: Preparing the target SHELL S/4 HANA system
The target shell system must be created and converted to S/4 HANA as a part of shell conversion. For more information, please refer to 'STEP 10: Creating an Empty ECC SHELL and converting it to S/4 HANA target system' under the question 'How to use BTC starting from scoping until target data migration?'
# | Task | Sub-Task | Part of BTC |
1 | Adapt customization | As part of the shell conversion, customization settings are transferred to ensure that the organizational setup remains up-to-date. These mandatory changes are well documented and should be performed as described in the conversion guide for SAP S/4HANA, available on the SAP Help Portal. | Not part of BTC |
2 | Adapt Custom Code | During the process of shell conversion, the custom code repository is included. We must ensure that custom developments are adapted to work with the SAP S/4HANA data model and are optimized for performance in the target system | Not part of BTC and initial step is part of SHELL conversion |
3 | Synchronize changes | It is mandatory to keep customization and custom coding in sync between the live source system and the target shell system. It can be either a manual retro-fit or can be performed using SAP Solution Manager Retrofit. | Not part of BTC |
4 | Migrate authorization | The migration of authorizations is a critical aspect that ensures security and compliance in the new SAP S/4HANA environment. We must perform it during the creation of the target system, using the shell conversion approach based on the Software Update Manager (SUM) | Not part of BTC and is part of SHELL conversion executed using SUM. (Please note that users and authorizations are not migrated by the SAP Business Transformation Center and must be manually reviewed and updated.) |
PHASE 3: Realizing the migration
While the actual data migration happens through BTC, there are many additional steps that must be performed outside BTC.
# | Task | Sub-Task | Part of BTC |
1 | Migration during downtime | As described earlier, SAP BTC data migration happens at the database level from source to target without considering application logic. Hence it is mandatory that no changes are made to any data in the source nor in the target system during the actual time of migration. This is ensured by manually locking the users in both source and target as a first step of business downtime. | Not in scope of BTC and must be performed manually |
2 | Application-Specific Business Ramp-Down in the Source System | Some of the key tasks specific to application that must be performed as a part of ramp-down in source includes (but not limited to) are below: 1.Customer/Vendor Integration (CVI): Please refer SAP S/4HANA Cookbook - Customer/Vendor Integration 2.Storage Location MRP: Please refer to SAP note 2268045 3. Conversion of Accounting to SAP S/4HANA: Please refer to 2332030 | Not part of BTC scope |
3 | Technical Ramp-Down | The following technical ramp-down activities must be performed in the source and the target system, respectively. In source system, queues must be emptied, connected systems must be disconnected, non-technical users mut be locked, all the data changing background processes must be deactivated and so on. In target system, performance settings like redoing log size, and deactivating the ABAP change log and so on must be performed. | Manually outside BTC scope |
4 | Data migration | Execute the data migration as described in the 'STEP 12: Data migration to target S/4 HANA SHELL' in question 'How to use BTC starting from scoping until target data migration?' | Part of BTC |
5 | Application-Specific Follow-On Activities | Once SAP Business Transformation Center has completed its migration tasks, there are still tasks to be completed to enable productive usage of the target system. For instance , in case of SAP Finance in SAP S/4HANA - Conversion, During the migration process, the table-based approached copies the original source tables to temporary corresponding tables in the target system. As SAP S/4HANA follows a new accounting concept, the data has to be reorganized or converted into the new table structure. Please refer to the S/4 HANA conversion guide and SAP Note 2332030. | Outside scope of BTC |
6 | Validation and Reconciliation | Once all migration and postprocessing tasks have been completed, we must validate the migrated data to confirm and complete data conversion. This can be done by comparing selected data records in source and target system, Comparing results of reports and transactions between source and target system., test golden transactions to ensure error free functioning. | Outside scope of BTC |
7 | Technical Ramp-up |
Some of the tasks that can be performed as a part of ramp-up tasks includes, reconnecting the connected systems, activating the previously deactivate background processes, adjust the performance settings specific to production usage and so on. | Outside scope of BTC |
10. How to reach the SAP BTC team incase of issues?
In case of a need for SAP support with an issue related to SAP BTC, we can raise a message through SAP for Me Customer Portal against the support component CA-BDT or CA-BDT-SCO or CA-BDT-MOD or CA-BDT-CNM or CA-BDT-ABA based on the issue involved.
11. How to connect source ECC system and target S/4 HANA converted empty shell to BTC?
In the question 'How to use BTC starting from scoping until target data migration?' addressed before in this blog, we describe about choosing the SAP source and target system during various phases of data migration using SAP BTC. However, this connection must be well established between these systems and BTC in advance.
High level tasks involved with onboarding a new SAP ECC source system to SAP BTC:
High level tasks involved with onboarding a target S/4 HANA Shell to SAP BTC:
Thus this blog covers every aspect of using SAP BTC for SDT S/4 HANA Conversion.
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